美国文学Allon Poe.doc

Edgar Allen Poe埃德加 爱伦 坡(1809 - 1849) Edgar Allen Poe(1809 - 1849) most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American literature 1. Life He lived a short and tragic life. (1) His childhood was a miserable one. He lost both of his parents when he was very young and then he was adopted by a wealthy merchant, John Allan. Poes relation with the Allans was unhappy. (2) He entered University of Virginia and then West Point but did not finish. (3) He worked as editor and writer most of his life and he was always poor. (4) At 27 he married his thirteen-year-old cousin, whose death in 1847 left him inconsolable, which leads to one of his major themes in his poetry: the death of a young and beautiful woman.2. Evaluation of PoeControversial in America at first. Today, his works are read with appreciation and understanding:a villain with no virtue an evil genius Emerson: “the jingle man” 叮当诗人/顺口溜作家 Whitman: “its narrow range and unhealthy, lurid quality” (不丰富的选材和不健康、可怕的质量)Poe enjoyed respect and welcome in Europe first.Swinburne, Bernard Shaw, D.H.Lawrence and W.H.Auden all spoke highly of Poe.a critic of acumen and insight a great writer of fiction, esp short storiesa poet of the first ranka critic-the greatest journalistic critic of his time“ earned his living as a “magazinist,” not a fiction writer.He was an editor and reviewer for many major magazineswrote a great deal of literary criticism, literary theory, and book reviewsa short story writer-his tales are complete works of arta poet-his poetry is “exquisitely refined“(精致优雅)Poes Major Literary Works1) Short storiesHorror :Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque 述异集 The Black Cat黑猫 The Cask of Amontillado（红色死亡假面舞会）Ligeia莉盖亚 The Fall of the House of Usher厄舍古屋的倒塌Ratiocination（推理） :The Murders in the Rue Morgue 莫格街谋杀案 The Gold Bug金甲虫The Purloined Letter被窃的信件The Mystery of Marie Roget玛丽罗杰谜案Poes achievement in short story1. He is the father of the detective story and horror story. (influence upon Connan Doyle-Sherlock Holmes ). 2. He is the father of psychoanalytic(心理分析的) criticism.3. He was the first American Writer to formulate the techniques of short stories.Poes Theory of short stories a. brevity and totality such length as to be read at one sitting b. single effect the very first sentence ought to help to bring out the “single effect of the story”. c. compression(紧凑) no word should be used which does not contribute to the story 登徒子好色赋 增之一分则太长，减之一分则太短；著粉则太白，施朱则太赤 。 d. finality end with the last sentence, leaving a sense of “finality” to the reader.These theories are well applied in Poes short stories, such as in his best: -The Fall of the House of UsherThe Fall of the House of Usher厄舍古屋的倒塌Gothic fiction 哥特式小说 sometimes referred to as Gothic horror a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.Elements of Gothic Writing Emphasis on setting Exterior: landscape Interior: houses Castle-like architecture Characters are brooding, secretive Buried family secrets Long history of family tied to place Gothic Architecture in America Steeply pitched roofs Pointed arch windows Elaborate trim around roof edges High dormers天窗 Lancet windows尖顶窗 Poes “house of Usher” looks more like a medieval castle or English cathedral in Gothic style1. Setting of the Usher The story begins at dusk on an autumn day in an earlier time, probably the 19th Century. The place is a forbidding（可怕的 ）mansion（大宅） in a forlorn（荒凉的） countryside. The mansion, covered by fungus（菌/苔藓）, is encircled by a small lake, called a tarn湖, that resembles a moat护城河. A bridge across the tarn provides access to the mansion. The Exterior Setting - The landscape is overgrown and ragged“an excessive antiquity”Interior Setting “windows were long, narrow and pointed” “Vacant eye-like” Windows “feeble gleams of encrimsoned(深红)light” “dark draperies窗帘” “atmosphere of sorrow”The initial sentence directly leads readers into a tone of melancholy: DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. Besides painting a gloomy picture, the words in the paragraph also beat out a funereal rhythmat first through the alliteration of during, dull, dark, and day, and then through the rhyming suffixes of oppressively, singularly, and melancholy. 2. characters Narrator- a friend of the master of the House of Usher. The narrator has been described as an objective witness to the events in the story, with some suggesting he represents rationality. Roderick Usher-the master of the house. He suffers from a depressing malaise characterized by strange behavior. Madeline Usher-twin sister of Roderick. She also suffers from a strange illness. After apparently dying, she rises from her coffin. 3.Plot summary The story begins with the narrator arriving at his boyhood friend Roderick Ushers house in the middle of the night. During the first evening in the old castle the narrator encounters Rodericks sister, a ghostly woman. Days pass by and the old friends in engage in conversation and the enjoyment of the arts. One night Roderick exclaims that his sister has died and could he help him place his dead sister in a coffin till they have a proper burial. The final evening the narrator is horrified to discover that Roderick encased his twin sister alive. Madeline arises in trance, breaks into the room and carries her brother to death. and the house of Usher collapsed.4. Themes of the Usher The central theme of The Fall of the House of Usher is terror that arises from the complexity and multiplicity of forces that shape human destiny. Dreadful, horrifying events result not from a single, uncomplicated circumstance but from a collision and intermingling of manifold, complex circumstances. Other themes Mental illness Evil -incest (乱伦) Isolation Failure to Adapt Madness Mystery 5. Symbolism in the Usher 1)The Fungus-Ridden Mansion Decline of the Usher family 2)The Collapsing Mansion Fall of the Usher family 3)The “Vacant eye-like” Windows of the Mansion (1) Hollow, cadaverous eyes of Roderick Usher; (2) Madeline Ushers cataleptic gaze; (3) the vacuity of life in the Usher mansion. 4)The Tarn, a Small Lake Encircling the Mansion and Reflecting Its Image倒影: (1) Madeline as the twin of Roderick, reflecting his image and personality; self-love (2) though the water of the tarn reflects details exactly, the image is upside down, leaving open the possibility that Roderick and the narrator see a false reality; (3) the desire of the Ushers to isolate themselves from the outside world. 5) The Bridge Over the Tarn: The narrator as Roderick Ushers only link to the outside world. 6) The name Usher: An usher is a doorkeeper. In this sense, Roderick Usher opens the door to a frightening world for the narrator. 7) The Storm: The turbulent emotions experienced by the characters. Poes poems 1) The Raven乌鸦2) Annable Lee安娜贝尔李3) “To Helen” 致海伦4) A Dream Within a Dream梦中梦5) The Sleeper睡梦人Poes poetic theories in The Philosophy of Composition and The Poetic Principle1) Poems should be short, concise and readable at one sitting;（about 100 lines）2) The aim of poem writing is beauty;3) the most beautiful thing described by a poem is the death of a beautiful woman;4) the desirable tone of a poem is melancholy. 5) He opposed didactic, moral or utilitarian poems. pure“, not to moralize Art for arts sake 为艺术而艺术 6) He stressed the form of poem, especially the beautiful and neat rhyme（优美整齐的韵律）.insists on an even(规则的) metrical flow He stresses rhythm 2. Famous Poems: To HelenThe Raven, Annabel LeeTo Helen 致海伦 An allusion to Helen of Troy Helen of Troy 特洛伊的海伦，希腊神话中世界上最美的女人，原是希腊南部斯巴达国王Menelaus的妻子 特洛伊王子Paris 贪恋其美貌，在爱与美之神Aphrodite的帮助下，把海伦诱拐了。 当时出门在外的Menelaus得知后勃然大怒，发誓要血洗Troy(特洛伊)。 这样展开了十年的战争。 最后希腊人采用“木马计”，战胜了Troy,杀死Paris, 抢回了Helen.To Helen 致海伦 Helen, thy beauty is to me A Like those Nicean barks of yore, B That gently, oer a perfumed sea, A The weary, wayworn wanderer bore B To his own native shore. B 海伦，你惊世之美对于我 犹如那昔时尼西亚的帆船, 在芬芳的海上悠然浮起, 把风尘仆仆、疲惫不堪的浪子 载回故国的港湾。 Nicean: 尼西亚，原小亚细亚，west of Asia Barks: sailing vessels 帆船On desperate seas long wont to roam, A Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, B Thy Naiad airs have brought me home ATo the glory that was Greece BAnd the grandeur that was Rome. A习惯了在惊险的大海上流浪 你风信子般的秀发，你绝美的脸庞你女神的风姿招我回乡 回归昨日希腊的荣耀 和昔日罗马的盛况 Wont: accustomed to 习惯， Naiad: 那伊阿德，nature goddess in Greek and Roman mythology, who usually inhabitates over rivers, lakes ,etc.Naiad air: peaceful, gentle breeze. Lo! In yon brilliant window niche, A How statue_like I see thee stand, B The agate lamp within thy hand ! B Ah, Psyche, from the regions which A Are Holy Land ! B 瞧！在那明亮的的窗口我看见你静静伫立如同神像，玛瑙之灯擎在你手里， 啊，赛琪，你所来之地 原来是那遥远的圣地！window niche：窗口，壁龛agate:玛瑙Psyche：a young beauty, who is loved by Cupid Background of the poem Poe wrote To Helen as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard who died in 1824. She was the mother of one f Poes classmates. Poe said it was “ my first purely ideal love of my soul”.2. Content of the poem 1) Poe opens the poem in the first stanza with a simile that compares the beauty of Helen (Mrs. Stanard) with small sailing boats that carried home travelers in ancient times. 2) He extends the boat image into the second stanza when he says Helen brought him home to the shores of the greatest civilization of antiquity-classical Greek and Rome. 3) In the final stanza of the poem, Poe imagines that Helen (Mrs. Stanard) is standing before him in a recess in front of a window. She is holding an agate lamp, as the beautiful Psyche did when she discovered the identity of Cupid. 诗中对司丹娜夫人的爱慕核对古希腊史诗中的绝世没人海伦的敬仰合二为一。 在最后一节了，对不可企及的美人的倾倒又升华为对艺术甚至是对真、善、美的无穷无尽的追求。因为西方文人心中古代的希腊和罗马已成为一种理想的境界，那里的一切都是至善至美。 It may well have been that Mrs. Stanards beauty and other admirable qualities, as well as her taking notice of Poes writing ability, helped inspired him to write poetry that mimicked in some ways the classical tradition of Greek and Rome. Certainly the Poems allusions to mythology and the classical age suggest that he had a grounding in, and a fondness for, ancient history and literature. 3. Stylistic Appreciation 1) The beauty of rhythm韵律美 tetrameter iambic 四音步抑扬格, with some exceptions of trimeter trochaic 三音部抑扬格 and dimeter iambic两音步抑扬格 in the last line of stanza I and stanza 3. rhyming: 2. The beauty of rhetoric修辞美 The use of alliteration头韵: Stanza 1: weary, wayworn wanderer Stanza 2: glory, Greece, grandeur Stanza 3: statue-like, stand2) The use of simile 明喻 stanza1: “Thy beauty is to me like those Nicean barks of yore” stanza 3:”How statue-like I see thee stand”3) The use of pun 双关 stanza 2: “have brought me home” 既表示“把我带回家”，也表示”使我明白并感受到“.The Raven 1. the content of the poem “The Raven” is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe，which tells the mysterious visit of a talking raven to a distraught lover, who loses his beloved woman. The young man in the poem turns from grief into madness under the steady one-word repetition of the talking bird: “Nevermore ”.2 . Appreciation of the poem The narrator repetedly asks the raven questions in the hope that it will say yes But, the narrator quickly learns what the bird will s